Kentucky coach John Calipari has one of the most talented rosters in college basketball, but he also has the least-experienced one.

That means Kentucky’s preseason practices often are an operation of frustration. Especially when it comes to teaching his young Wildcats the defensive principles that led to the school’s eighth national championship last spring.

John Calipari says his Wildcats 'have a long way to go.' (AP Photo)

"We just have a long way to go," Calipari told reporters this week. "We're just awful right now. We don't stay in front of anybody. We've got guys stopping left and right and think it's OK. Or, 'It wasn't my man' and stuff like that."

Only one player returns from Calipari’s seven-man playing rotation last season. That’s gangly sharpshooter Kyle Wiltjer, who played 11 minutes per game as a freshman. Don’t fret for Calipari, though.

Talent and promise is abundant. Wiltjer is a model stretch-4 player who stands 6-10 now and hit 43.2 percent of his 3s last season. Joining him on the front line is 6-10 Nerlens Noel, said by many analysts to be the best shot-blocker of a generation, and agile 7-footer Willie Cauley-Stein. On the wings are uber-athletic Archie Goodwin and Alex Poythress. Transfers Ryan Harrow (N.C. State) and Julius Mays (Wright State) will give the club some veteran experience, but they’re new, too.

Kentucky opens the season Nov. 9 against Maryland in the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn and then meets No. 6 Duke in Atlanta on Nov. 13. Calipari knows time is running out to teach behind closed doors.

“Don’t know who’s going to start yet,” he said. “What I’m tinkering with is combinations. So trying to figure out when these guys are in together, how do we play? When that group is in together, how do we play? That’s what we’re trying to do.

"I think it's more hard work than patience. More of a focus on what you've got to do than patience. ... One guy that has to have patience is me. And that will only go so far with me."